Latch



L. F. McNALLY.

LATCH'.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 8| 1920.

AWV

UNITED STATES lISATENT oFFicE.

LEo E. MCNALLY, or EnooiimN,v NEW YoEK, 'AssiGNon 'ro DAVID w. EYE, or `RED BANK, NEWJERSEY.

'LATCH Specicationof Lettersatent. i 'Patented July 26: 192L Application filed January 8, 1920. Serial No. 350,113.

To all ifi/om t may concern: f Y

Be it known that Lno F. MCNALLY, a citizen ci the United States, and a resident oi" New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county oi? Kings andState Vof New York, have made and invented certain new and useit'ul improvements in Latches, of which the following is a specification. y

My invent-.ion relates to a latch and particularly to one which is adapted for use upon the trap dooro'f vestibule cars, to hold the saine in a. raised or open position.

it is anv object of my invention to provide a latch, which while particularly adapted Vfor use upon trap doors of vestibule cars, may aiso beV used upon doors, windows, and in connection with any other parts that are designed to be held together andy to accomplish the aforementioned ends in a simple and eX- peditiousvinanner, the latch comprising but i'ew parts, of simple design and construction and adapted to operate in a smooth and quiet manner and to be entirely free from rattling or vibrating or producing objectionable noises.

A further object is to design a latch mech/- anism whereinthe latch propery is secured to the-underside ofthe trap door and is accordingly'-entirelyl out of sight or invisible when the trap door is lin its closed position, and -which arrangement' provides that the latch proper will be readily accessible wheny the trap door is in its raised and open position.Y Y

es further object is to provide a latchr having pivotally mounted ,bolt so arranged that when the same contacts with the keeper, the forces brought to bear upon the latch will tend to retractthe latch in a smooth and quiet' manner and with a minimum'amountY ot stress on the latch bolt pivot, the retrac-v tion or raising of the latch bolt taking place independent of' the finger engageable lift.

A vfurther object is't'o provide aqlatch of the character described, which due to its simpledesign and ewfparts may begeconomically constructed and although embodying a minimum anfiount oit'machine work, at the same time is capable of operating in a simple and quiet manner providing for theilong and use-ful life of the several-parts of'which the latch is composed.-

lV ith the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention resides in the improved latch described in the accompanying specication and illustrated in the drawings forming a part thereof, and in the novel coinbination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes may be made in the constructionv within the scope ofV the appended claims without departing from the spirit thereof.

Inl the accompanying drawings, the preferred embodiment of my invention is shown wherein 1- Figure 1' is a view` in vertical section of a trap doorand adjacent portion of a car having my `improved latch secured thereto, lie section beingl taken on the line 1-1 of Pig. 2. i'

Fig. 2' is a view in front elevation and partially in section of my improved latch.

F ig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating the manner in which thel latch operatesl as the door is raised to its open position, the latch boltv being inthe act of passing above the keeper prior to its seating therebehind.

Fig. il is a view in horizontal section taken on the line i-of F ig. 1.

leferring'speciiically to the: several views, the `latch isi-composedV of the casing 10 formedl with the base plate 11', which is adapted to be secured` to the trap door 12, by the rivets or holding screws 13.

'The base. plateandhousing Mare formed with the opening or well 1'5 adapted to receive therein the keeper 16, the latter including the base 17, which is held to thel door of the car by the holding screws 18, or other suitable means, and with the bolt retainer 19.

The casing is provided with an opening 20, ivhich isremoved from'` and extends transverselyto the wellvl, the intermediate portionoi the housing being cored out as at 211.v Located within thehousing is thev latch bolt 22, the same being mounted forpivotal Vmovement upon the pinI 22, which islocated adjacent thev base plate 1'1 of the casing. The latchv boltv 22 is ormedwith the keeper'retaining-'tace 23, curved about the pivotal mounting ot the bolt asan approximate center and alsois Yormed'withv the bolt raising'face 24, so'formcdorcurved that the forces brought to bear upon: the bolt as it strikes against the keeper will tend to rot-ate thebolt about its pivotal mounting and thus prevent any undue stress or force being brought to bear upon the bolt pivot, the curve of the bolt raising face being such that the forces brought into pla as the .bolt strikes against the keeper Wil vdepressing spring 27, the latter' winding 'about the bolt pivot and having its ends impinging against the 'bottom wall of the slot 25 and against the bottom wall of the coredout portion 21 of the housing, thereby tending to maintain the bolt in its extended position as illustrated in full lines in Fig. 1.

A bolt lift 28 having a inger engageable portion 29 is mounted for sliding movement within the opening() of the casing. This lift includes the barrel 30 containing the slot 31 in which the upper extremity of the link Q6 is received, the link, in turn, being provided with a slot 32, through which extends the lift pin 33, the latter being'rigidly secured in suitable openings in the sides oi' the barrel 80 of the lift. The link is pivotally secured to the bolt by the pin 34 and two copper washers 35 prevent undue friction between the linkand the side walls of the bolt slot 25, Thus, and as clearly illustrated infFig. 3, as the latch bolt isA raised by striking` against jthe external surface ot' the keeper, the link is moved upwardly within the lift, the lift remaining in its seat- 'ed position, whereby` the bolt is smoothly and quietly raised or retracted by the keeper and immediately snaps into locked position as the keeperl passes therebeyond andinto theposition as illustrated in Fig. 1. The bolt spring 27 tends to hold the latch bolt in 'an yextended position, thus maintaining Vthe lift lin itsseated positionand secured against rattling and vibrating vand also locking the door in its raised position. Vhen it is desired to release the door, the lift' is grasped and moved outwardly .into

:the dotted position illustrated yin Fig. 1

causing the retraction of the bolt 23 and its according releasement from the keeper.

From the foregoing it,will be observed thatfthe parts are adapted to operate in a quiet and smooth manner, that they latch bolt'is normally maintained in its extended position,` resiliently holding the lift seated andzfurther thatj approximately no forces whatever will be'brought'to bear upon the bolt pivot asl thebolt contacts with and is retracted bythe keeper thus insuring the long Aand serviceable life of all parts.

keeper, a lift slidably carriedby said casing` and provided with a inger-engageable portion, and means associated with said lift and said latch bolt, providing for the manual raising of said bolt by said lift and the independent raising of the bolt by the keeper.

2. A latch comprising a casing having an opening adaptedto receive a keeper therein, ai keeper, a latch bolt pivotally` secured within said casing adjacent the bottom wall thereof, which passes beyond the extremity ofsaid keeper as ythe latch moves into locked position, resilient means engaging said latch bolt, adapted to-hold the same in extended position for engagement with said keeper, a lift slidably carried by said casing andprovided with a finger engageable portion, and a link pivotally and slidably engaging said bolt and Said lift, andl providing for the manual raising of said bolt by s'aid lift andthe independent raising of the bolt y by the keeper.

3. A latch comprising a casing,'a latch bolt pivotally secured therein, a keeper adapted to coperate with said latch bolt,

means for engaging said latch bolt, providingfor the manual retraction of said latch bolt-rand allowing the retraction of the latch bolt1 by said keeper independent` of Vsaid means, saidv latch bolt providedwith an external face, the normal to which, extends through said pivot', and said latch bolt provided withv a second face adapted to cooperate with the keeper for the retraction ofthe latch bolt, the normal of the said second face extending substantially at right anglesjto a line j oiningtheV base of the normal and the pivotal mounting ofthe bolt, the

rst mentioned face causing a direct thrust from the keeper vupon the pivotal mounting of` thevbolt, the second mentioned facecausing a thrust fromthe keeper to retract the v bolt. without effect upon the said pivot.

vSigned at New York, borough of #Man- -hattam 1nk thecounty of New York, and

State of New York, this 6th day of anuary,

A. D. 1920.l Y Y.

j l 'LEO. F. MCNALLYl Witnesses:

A. M. LINDENSTRUTH,

FRIEDA A. REICHART. 

